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Chapter 6
STEEL
6.1 Steel Classification
6.2 Manufacturing of Steel
6.3 Properties and Usage of Steel in Construction
6.4 Common Types of Steel
6.5 Steel Standard Test

6.1 Steel Classification

Steel is categorized as the ferrous metal. Referring to Figure 6.1, steel is a

generally hard, strong, durable, malleable alloy of iron and carbon, usually
containing between 0.2 and 1.5 percent carbon, often with other constituents
such as manganese, chromium, nickel, molybdenum, copper, tungsten,
cobalt, or silicon, depending on the desired alloy properties, and widely used
as a structural material.

STEEL

LOW/CARBON MEDIUM HIGH ALLOY

MILD CARBON CARBON STEEL

FIGURE 6.1 Steel Classification

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6.2 Manufacturing of Steel

6.2.1 Bessemer process

6.2.2 Cementation process
6.2.3 Crucible process
6.2.4 Open hearth process
6.2.5 Electric smelting process
6.2.6 Duplex process
6.2.7 Lintz and Donawitz (L.D) process

6.2.1 Bessemer process

9 Basic method

9 The first inexpensive industrial process for the mass-production of

steel from molten pig iron. The process is named after its inventor,
Henry Bessemer, who took out a patent on the process in 1855.

9 The process was independently discovered in 1851 by William

Kelly. The process had also been used outside of Europe for
hundreds of years, but not on an industrial scale. The key principle
is removal of impurities from the iron by oxidation through air being
blown through the molten iron. The oxidation also raises the
temperature of the iron mass and keeps it molten.

9 The process is carried on in a large container called the Bessemer

converter as shown in Figure 6.2, which is made of steel and has a
lining of silica and clay or of dolomite.

Dolomite
- used as the converter lining when the phosphorus content is
high; the process is then called basic Bessemer. The silica
and clay lining is used in the acid Bessemer, in which
phosphorus is not removed. In order to provide the elements
necessary to give the steel the desired properties, other
substances could be added to the molten steel when
conversion was complete, such as spiegeleisen (an iron-
carbon-manganese alloy).
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FIGURE 6.2: Schematic diagram

of Bessemer converter

9 The capacity is from 8 to 30 tons of molten iron; the usual charge

is 15 or 18 tons. The converter is egg-shaped.

9 At its narrow upper end it has an opening through which the iron to
be treated is introduced and the finished product is poured out.

9 The wide end, or bottom, has a number of perforations through

which the air is forced upward into the converter during operation.

9 As the air passes upward through the molten pig iron, impurities
such as silicon, manganese, and carbon unite with the oxygen in
the air to form oxides; the carbon monoxide burns off with a blue
flame and the other impurities form slag.

9 The converter is then emptied into ladles from which the steel is
poured into molds; the slag is left behind. The whole process is
completed in 15 to 20 min. The Bessemer process was
superseded by the open-hearth process.

Ladle
spoon-shaped vessel with a long handle; used to transfer
liquids
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6.2.2 Cementation process

9 is an obsolete technique for making steel. Unlike steelmaking it

increased the amount of carbon in the iron.

9 It was apparently developed before the 17th century.

9 The process probably originated in Bohemia in the 16th century and

was in use in Bavaria in 1601. The process was patented in England
by William Ellyot and Mathias Meysey in 1614.

9 The process thus begins with wrought iron and charcoal. It uses one
or more long stone pots inside a furnace.

9 Iron bars and charcoal are packed in alternating layers, with a top
layer of charcoal and then refractory matter to make the pot or 'coffin'
air tight. Some manufacturers used a mix of powdered charcoal, soot
and mineral salts, called cement powder - which gave the process its
name.

9 Depending on the thickness of the iron bars the pots were then heated
from below for a week or more. Bars were regularly examined and
when the correct condition was reached the heat is withdrawn and the
pots are left until cool - usually around fourteen days. The iron had
'gained' a little over 1% in mass from the carbon in the charcoal, and
had become heterogeneous bars of blister steel.

9 The bars were then shortened, bound, heated and hammered,

pressed or rolled to become shear steel. Alternatively they could be
broken up and melted in a crucible using a crucible furnace with a flux
to become crucible steel or cast steel.

6.2.3 Crucible process

9 Technique for producing cast or tool steel. It was invented in 1740 by

Benjamin Huntsman, who heated small pieces of carbon steel in a
closed fireclay crucible placed in a coke fire.

9 This was the first process used in Europe in which the temperature
(2,900°F, or 1,600°C) was high enough to melt the steel, producing a
homogeneous metal of uniform composition.
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9 After 1870 the Siemens regenerative gas furnace replaced the coke-
fired furnace. Capable of producing even higher temperatures, the
Siemens furnace had a number of combustion holes, each holding
several crucibles, and heated as many as 100 crucibles at a time.

9 All high-quality tool steel and high-speed steel was long made by the
crucible process. In the 20th century the electric furnace has replaced
it in countries with inexpensive electric power.

6.2.4 Open hearth process

9 Steelmaking technique that for most of the 20th century accounted for
most steel made in the world.

9 A steel-making process carried out in an open-hearth furnace in which

selected pig iron and malleable scrap iron are melted, with the
addition of pure iron ore.

9 William Siemens made steel from pig iron in a furnace of his design in
1867.

9 The same year the French manufacturer Pierre-Émile Martin (1824 –

1915) used the idea to produce steel by melting wrought iron with
steel scrap.

9 Siemens used the waste heat given off by the furnace: he directed the
fumes from the furnace through a brick checkerwork, heating it to a
high temperature, and then used the same path to introduce air into
the furnace; the preheated air significantly increased the flame
temperature.

9 The open-hearth process furnace (which replaced the Bessemer

process) has itself been replaced in most industrialized countries by
the basic oxygen process and the electric furnace.
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6.2.5 Duplex process

9 A two-step procedure in which steel is refined by one process (usually

the Bessemer process) and finished by another process (usually
open-hearth or electric-furnace). Also known as duplexing; duplex
practice.

6.2.6 Lintz and Donawitz (L.D) process

9 Also known as basic oxygen steelmaking or LD-converter).

9 is a method of steelmaking in which carbon-rich molten iron is made

into steel. The process is an improvement over the historically
important Bessemer process. The LD-converter is named after the
Austrian placenames Linz and Donawitz.

9 Method of producing steel from a charge consisting mostly of pig iron.

The charge is placed in a furnace similar to the one used in the
Bessemer process of steelmaking except that pure oxygen instead of
air is blown into the charge to oxidize the impurities present.

9 One desirable feature of this process is that it takes less than an hour,
and is thus much faster than the open-hearth process, another
important method of steelmaking. A second advantage is that a major
byproduct is carbon monoxide, which can be used as a fuel or in
producing various chemicals, such as acetic acid. The basic oxygen
process also produces less air pollution than methods using air.

6.3 Properties and Usage of Steel in Construction

6.3.1 Properties of Steel

Hardenability

9 Steel property which describes the depth to which the steel may be
hardened during quenching.

9 Note that hardenability is a material property, dependent on

chemical composition and grain size, but independent of the
quenchant or quenching system (cooling rate). However, the
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structures obtained across a quenched section are a function of

both hardenability and the quenching process (severity of quench).

9 Describes the capacity of the steel to harden in depth under a given

set of conditions.

9 Steels with high hardenability are needed for large high strength
components, such as large extruder screws for injection moulding
of polymers, pistons for rock breakers, mine shaft supports, aircraft
undercarriages.

9 Steels with low hardenability may be used for smaller components,

such as chisels and shears, or for surface hardened components
such as gears.

9 Hardenability can be measured using the Jominy end quench test.

Hardness
9 Measure of the resistance of a material to plastic
deformation. This depends on the carbon content and
microstructure of the steel.

9 Hence the same steel can exhibit different hardness values

depending upon its microstructure, which itself may depend on
how the sample was quenched.

6.3.2 Usage of Steel in Construction

1) Framed structure
– Consist of tension member, column, beams under combined
bending and axial load.
– Rigidly connected or having simple end connection along
bracing to provide suitability. Such as rolled and formed
section and compound section.
– Example of framed structure such as space truss.
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Figure 6.3 Space Truss

2) Shell-type structure
– Serves a function in addition to participation in carrying loads.
– Containment vessel used to stove liquids, water tangles,
storage bin.

Figure 6.4 Millenium Dome, England

3) Suspension-type structure
– Suspension-type structure tension cables are the major
supporting system.
– Eg; suspension bridge
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Figure 6.5 Tatara Ohashi Bridge,

Japan-the largest cable-stayed bridge

4) Bolt steel
– Bolt should have adequate tensile strength and toughness.
– Two types of bolt;
a) Ordinary bolts

Figure 6.6 Ordinary bolts

b) Friction grip bolts

- Friction grip bolting of structural joints is sometimes required by

design engineers to suit the requirements of a particular project.
- Friction grip bolted joints rely on the bolts being tensioned to
pre-determined torque allowing the friction between the
surfaces on the joint to take some of the bearing load.
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5) Reinforcing bar
– Concrete is weak in tension but greater in compression.
– To solve the problem in tension, reinforcing bar is required.
- Is used to overcome the deficiencies in tensile and bending
strength.
- Must have adequate tensile properties and strong bondage to
transmit loads to steel
- produced 2 grades; hot rolled mild steel = 250N/mm2
high yield steel = 460N/mm2
- available in diameters of 6, 8, 10 ,12, 16, 20, 25, 35 and 40mm.
- mild steel bars are produced as smooth round bars.
- high yield bars are produced as deformed bars.

Figure 6.7 Reinforcing bar-deformed bars

6.4 Common Types of Steel

i) Mild steel
– Also known as low carbon or soft steel.
– It is ductile, tougher and more elastic than wrought iron.
– Can be forged and welded.
– Difficult to temper and harden.
– It rusts quickly and can be permanently magnetised.
– The properties of specific gravity=7.3.
– Ultimate compressive strength = 800 to 1200 N/mm2.
– Tensile strength=600 to 800 N/mm2.
– Used on the form of rolled sections, reinforcing bars, roof
coverings and sheet piles and in railway tracks.
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– The relatively low strength and high ductility of the low-carbon

steels make it possible also to cold-work these steels.
– Cold-rolled low-carbon steels are extensively used for sheet
applications in the appliance and automotive industries. Cold-
rolled steels have excellent surface finishes, and both hot- and
cold-worked mild steels are readily welded.
– rebar comprised mild steel material with a yield strength of
approximately 250 N/mm².

ii) Medium carbon

– contain between 0.25 and 0.70% carbon, and are most
frequently used in the heat-treated condition for machine
components that require high strength and good fatigue
resistance.

iii) High carbon

– Carbon content in high carbon steel varies from 0.55 to 1.5%.
– It is tougher and more elastic than mild steel.
– Can be forged and welded with difficulty.
– The properties of specific gravity=7.9.
– Ultimate compressive strength = 1350 N/mm2.
– Tensile strength=1400 to 2000 N/mm2.
– Used for reinforcing cement concrete-reinforcing bars and
prestressed concrete members, making tools and machine
parts.
– Can take shocks and vibrations.

iv) Alloy steels

– a steel whose distinctive properties are due to the presence of
one or more elements other than carbon.

The uses of alloy

steel;

ALLOY STEEL USES

Stainless steel Ball bearings, dies, crushing machines,
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razors
Nickel steel Automobile and airplane parts
Invar steel Delicate instruments
Vanadium steel High speed tools, autoparts, chessis
Tungsten steel Drilling machines, high speed tools
Manganese steel Mining equipments, heavy earth, rollers,
jaws of crushers, crossing in railways
Molybdenum steel Gears, axles, shafts

6.5 Steel Standard Test

Jominy end quench test

The Jominy end quench test is the standard method for measuring the
hardenability of steels. In ASTM A255, this describes the ability of the steel
to be hardened in depth by quenching. The test sample is a cylinder with a
length of 102 mm (4 inches) and a diameter of 25.4 mm (1 inch) as shown in
Figure 6.8.

Figure 6.8 Jominy test specimen

The steel sample is normalised to eliminate differences in microstructure due

to previous forging, and then austenitised. This is usually at a temperature of
800 to 900°C. The test sample is quickly transferred to the test machine,
where it is held vertically and sprayed with a controlled flow of water onto one
end of the sample. This cools the specimen from one end, simulating the
effect of quenching a larger steel component in water.
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Figure 6.9 Jominy test machine

The cooling rate varies along the length of the sample from very rapid at the
quenched end, to rates equivalent to air cooling at the other end. The data of
the result is shown in Figure 6.10.

Figure 6.10 The data of Jominy end quench test

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Tutorial 6

1) Briefly explain about stainless steel, tungsten steel, manganese

steel, nickel steel and vanadium steel.
2) List four processes involved in manufacturing of steel
3) Give the definition of LD converter.
4) State the differences between ordinary bolt and friction bolt.
5) Distinguish between mild and yield bars.
6) Give the shell and suspension type of structure
7) State another properties of steels.